FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward County is expected to begin resuming normal operations on Friday as a hurricane warning for the county was downgraded to a tropical storm warning.
Residents are still advised to stay off the roads and stay in shelters if needed until the storm has fully passed. Tropical storm-like conditions are still possible up until the early morning hours.
As darkness fell Thursday night on Fort Lauderdale, the rain came down and the wind was blowing, but you could also hear a sigh of relief.
"We were expecting a lot worse," one resident said. "I thought we were going to have flooding. I thought it was going to come up to our door, because we live off the water over here."
The streets along A1A were mostly empty through the night as the bands of rains continued. Despite the demands from as high up as the governor to stay away from the beach, many flocked to the beach earlier in the day to see rough surf, white caps and ominous gray skies. Wind gusts hit more than 30 mph in the area.
"We knew there was a hurricane and we just flew in anyway," a tourist from Massachusetts said.
Meanwhile, the Broadwalk in Hollywood Beach was mostly empty Thursday night, except for few folks who didn't mind getting soaked during an evening walk.
"We have family in North Miami and they came up here because I thought they would be better off here," Jim Cuddy said.
Cuddy said his flight was canceled for Thursday so he was forced to ride out the storm.
Fort Lauderdale Beach remains closed, but will reopen at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
School will remain closed on Friday, as well as Broward County government offices.
All parks and community centers in Fort Lauderdale will reopen on Saturday and residential trash collection will resume on Saturday.
All bridges in Broward County will remain locked in the down position until further notice.
Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility and the Downtown Helistop will also remain closed until further notice.
Travelers flying into and out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are asked to check with their airline to confirm their flight status for Friday.
FLL, Port Everglades and Broward County Transit will begin to restore services once weather permits.
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